The Arizona Republic
From June 8, 2003 Print Edition
Simple mistakes can sabotage job interview
By D.J. Burrough
Special for The Republic
June 8, 2003
Tell a 10-minute story about the time you caught a 6-pound
trout.
Ask the interviewer to explain what the company does exactly.
Or just show up in shorts and a T-shirt.
There are many ways to flub an interview, but some of the most common are
simple mistakes that can be avoided if you prepare and keep your wits about
you, career experts say.
The most common interview mistake candidates make is to talk too much, according
to 43 percent of recruiters interviewed for a survey conducted by the executive
search firm Korn/Ferry International.
“People try hard to impress, and they just go on and on,” said
Al O’Connor, executive vice president in the Phoenix office of Right
Management Consultants. Keep your answers as close to a few minutes as possible,
O’Connor said. If the interviewer wants to know more, he or she will
ask a follow-up question.
The next most common mistake: coming unprepared. Job seekers who show up without
enough knowledge of the company, its products and services and the position
risk losing an opportunity. They’re also unprepared if they are not
able to talk easily about their achievements and expertise and how it would
benefit the company, said Linda Bough, president of American Career Executives.
The candidate who isn’t prepared risks coming across to interviewers
as a second-rate amateur who is too lazy to do any research or to work on
his or her presentation, she said.
Candidates are trained to do enough research so that they uncover five points
of interest abut a company, can ask five intelligent questions and can talk
about five important points about their background, Baugh said.
While not as prevalent a mistake as talking too much, being unprepared can
have more of a negative impact on the interview. Forth-one percent of the
recruiters in the survey felt that being unprepared was the most “fatal”
to a candidate’s chances of getting hired. Next was an over-inflated
ego, at 32 percent, followed by talking too much, with 17 percent, and bad
hygiene or poorly dressed, at 9 percent.
Worse than wearing the “Down With Bush” T-shirt is to talk about
money in an early interview, Baugh said.
Money should be brought up only after the company has made you an offer of
the job. The more times you can meet with the company while putting off talking
about money increases your chances of getting an offer, and getting a higher
one, Baugh said.
Mistakes to avoid
Career experts say most common interview mistakes can be avoided with adequate
preparation. Pitfalls to avoid:
| • | Talking too much. Keep your answers short and wait for interviewer to ask follow-up questions. |
| • | Coming unprepared. You should be familiar with the company and how your skills would fit in there. |
| • | Poorly dressed or bad hygiene. Enough said. |
| • | Mentioning money.
Wait until the offer is made to discuss salary, etc. |